Media Releases

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) is deeply concerned by the Australian Government’s vote on two draft resolutions in the UN General Assembly’s Second Committee, and the Government’s apparent determination to further weaken Australia’s long-standing bipartisan position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

AIJAC Executive Director Dr Colin Rubenstein AM said, “Australia’s vote on these two draft resolutions makes no sense, either in terms of the objectives of the resolutions, or Australia’s historical voting record.”

Dr Rubenstein continued, “All Australian governments have voted no on the oil slick resolution since it was introduced in 2006, including, until now, the Albanese Government. This is because the resolution does nothing to build momentum toward peace, is completely decontextualised and ignores the substantial environmental destruction caused by Hezbollah in Israel during the 2006 war.”

On the ‘permanent sovereignty’ draft resolution, Dr Rubenstein said, “Australia has voted no or abstained from this resolution since 2003. Voting yes for this resolution puts Australia at odds withour own position on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which is absurd.”

Dr Rubenstein concluded, “Guided by its majority of anti-democratic countries and aided by short-sighted foreign policies from too-many Western countries, the UN’s obsession with constant one-sided condemnations of Israel has been a major factor preventing permanent peace between Israel and its neighbours. These draft resolutions are two clear examples, and it is simply bizarre that Australia would vote in favour of them. Such resolutions are designed to be a permanent irritant between the parties and prevent them from moving towards a negotiated peaceful future. We sincerely hope the Australian Government will change its vote to better reflect the Australian people’s desire for a genuine two-state peace when these two resolutions come before the General Assembly Plenary next month.”

Background

The ‘permanent sovereignty’ resolution (text here) casts all of Israel’s actions vis-à-vis Palestinians – including its legal right to self-defence – as a determined effort by Israel to destroy “Palestine’s” resources.

In doing so, the UN:

• Unilaterally negates Israel’s claims to the West Bank (claims Israel, the Palestinian side, the UN and, through numerous statements, the Australian Government, have agreed will be determined in final status negotiations);

• Deliberately removes the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially including the destruction that is caused through war. The current war in Gaza was instigated by Hamas, and Hamas remains a party to the war, though this is ignored in the resolution;

• Includes a confirmation of a Palestinian ‘right’ to restitution, which, if pursued, will add yet another obstacle to the successful achievement of Israeli-Palestinian peace. It is unfortunate that Australia would vote for a resolution that obviously makes Israeli-Palestinian peace harder to achieve; and

• Makes no mention of the decades of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas (the de facto ruler of Gaza) pumping raw sewage into areas they control.

The ‘oil slick’ resolution (text here) doesn’t mention the context of the oil slick; it occurred during a war begun by Hezbollah. Nor does it mention that Hezbollah, during the course of that war, burned down 500,000 trees in Israel. It also completely ignores Lebanon’s non-compliance with UN Security Council resolutions (both before 2006 and since) that demanded it disarm Hezbollah and remove its presence from the Israel-Lebanon border.

The resolution falls under the UN’s Sustainable Development agenda. Israel is the only country that the UN singles out for condemnation under this agenda – yet another example of the UN’s overwhelming institutional bias against the world’s only Jewish state.